BEAUMONT, Texas – First-year Lamar University head coach Pete Rossomando will lead his troops onto the field Thursday evening to officially kick off the 2023 season. The program's fourth head coach since the sport's return, Rossomando took over the position in December 2022, and he will guide his troops against one of the toughest teams in the nation No. 8 Idaho.
Rossomando made his way to Beaumont after spending the previous two seasons at Charlotte working with the offensive line. Rossomando was named interim head coach of the 49ers for the final four games of the 2022 season before leaving to take over the Cardinals' program.
Rossomando has made a career out of building programs into national contenders – first at NCAA Division II New Haven where he would be named NCAA Division II National Coach of the Year, and then at Central Connecticut State where he guided the Blue Devils to a conference title and the first FCS playoff appearance in school history. During his time at CCSU, Rossomando was a finalist for the Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year Award.
He takes over a Cardinals' program that has had only two winning seasons since its rebirth in 2010. The Cardinals are also looking for their first winning season since the 2018 campaign.
While the Cardinals enter 2023 looking to flip the script on a 1-10 2022, Idaho is looking to build of a 7-5 year that saw them advance to the NCAA FCS Playoffs. A former FBS opponent, Idaho has made the return to the FCS level where they finished tied for third in the Big Sky standings behind two nationally seeded teams.
The 2023 Cardinals will be a youthful squad in terms of athletic classification, but that doesn't mean this team is without experience. The Cardinals return 49 letterwinners and 19 starters from a season ago, including four preseason All-Southland Conference selections –
Khalan Griffin (first-team running back),
Sevonne Rhea (second-team receiver),
Kristian Pugh (second-team defensive back) and
Ramond Stevens (second-team defensive back).
The Vandals enter the year with several preseason All-America candidates – brothers Hayden (receivers) and Hogan Hatten (long snapper) and Marcus Harris (defensive back). Hayden and Vandals quarterback Gevani McCoy have also been named to the preseason Walter Payton Award Watch list.
No matter how the game turns out, when the two teams step foot on the artificial surface Thursday it will be a historical marker. Thursday's meeting will mark the first time in series history the two teams have met in football.
Thursday's contest will kick off at 7 p.m. from Provost Umphrey Stadium. It will be broadcast live on Newstalk 560 KLVI and streamed live on ESPN+.
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